Teaching chefs new techniques of cutting and preparing U.S. meat is an excell...
Teaching chefs new techniques of cutting and preparing U.S. meat is an excellent way for the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) to demonstrate the quality of U.S. meat and get it on the menu in Philippine and Indonesian restaurants.
“Chefs become comfortable with new cutting methods and preparation recipes for U.S. meat,” USMEF Director, ASEAN Eric Choon said. “They are impressed with the quality of U.S. meat and motivated to use U.S. meat in dishes at their restaurants.”
Two seminars in the Philippines and one in Indonesia in March persuaded seven restaurants to add U.S. beef to their menus. Chefs started cooking U.S. hanging tender, short plate and top blade muscle — all cuts featured in the USMEF chef seminars.
But U.S. pork dishes were not neglected. Sabrina Yin, USMEF ASEAN food consultant, demonstrated how to cut and prepare brisket, pork spare ribs and pork sausage to teach chefs Western-style methods and how to easily incorporate their new skills and U.S. products in their kitchens.
USMEF supplied meat charts, informational brochures and recipe cards to participating chefs to help them pass on the methods and recipes they learned to the rest of their staff. .
Video presentations of “The American Meat Tradition”, “Chef & Foodservice Operator’s Guide to Beef” and “Pork: A Fresh Look” produced by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) helped educate participants on the high quality, safety, versatility and superior taste of U.S. meat.
The seminars, funded by beef and pork checkoff dollars in addition to the USDA Market Access Program (MAP), are an integral part of the strategy in the ASEAN region to win back importers and retail business for U.S. beef and expand exports of U.S. pork.
The Philippines and Indonesia reopened to U.S. beef last summer after closing their borders in December 2003 due to a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a Washington State dairy cow.
Eleven importers attended the seminar in Manila, the Philippine capital, sponsored in part by U.S. beef importer ELT Enterprises while 15 importers attended seminars in Jakarta, Indonesia, sponsored in part by leading Indonesia importers PT Indoguna Utama and PT Sukanda Djaya.
“The importers valued the opportunity the USMEF seminar provided to make new contacts with seminar participants,” Choon said. “The feedback we have received has been appreciative of USMEF’s assistance in marketing U.S. meat to the ASEAN region.”
Through February, export volume of U.S. beef and beef variety meat to the ASEAN region increased 464 percent from the same period of last year to 4,127 metric tons (mt) with Indonesia accounting for the majority of the increase. Value increased 1,256 percent to $6.31 million.
Exports of U.S. pork and pork variety meat to the ASEAN region, including Australia, also increased through February, rising to 3,522 mt, a 394 percent increase in volume and $9.65 million, a 420 percent rise in value.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.
– USMEF –